Flightless bird

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Flightless birds are birds that cannot fly, as they have, through evolution, lost the ability. There are over 60 extant species, including the well-known ratites (ostriches (Struthio), emus (Dromaius), cassowaries (Casuarius), rheas, kiwis (Apteryx)), and penguins (Sphenisciformes). The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail (length 12.5 cm, weight 34.7 g). The largest (both heaviest and tallest) flightless bird, which is also the largest living bird in general, is the common ostrich (2.7 m, 156 kg). Some domesticated birds, such as the chicken, have lost the ability to fly for extended periods, although their ancestral species, the red junglefowl and others, respectively, are capable of extended flight. A few particularly bred birds, such as the Broad Breasted White turkey, have become totally flightless as a result of selective breeding; the birds were bred to grow massive breast meat that weighs too much for the bird's wings to support in flight. Flightlessness has...

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